Certainly, you are never too old to learn

Wednesday

Jan 28, 2004 at 9:54 AMJan 28, 2004 at 11:35 AM

By IRENE C. MICHEL For The Courier

Last week I mentioned Hong Kong in my article and said how surprised I was to find out it belongs to England. No wonder I was surprised. It once did belong to England but was returned to China in 1997. I also wrote: "you're never too old to learn." I think I just proved that! Thanks to my high school classmate and Internet friend, I was informed gently that Hong Kong had reverted to China in 1997. I could say lots of nice things about this lady, but I think I might embarrass her. However, I'd love to have the "easy touch" ability to offer help that she has. I am grateful she noticed the error and reported it to me.

One of my friends (gee, I'm finding out how many friends I really do have) gave me a copy of an email he received. One of the many things written on that email was: "The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."

The other day, my beloved and I were driving along and here was this lady using her cell phone. She also was holding a dog with her other arm. I mentioned to my beloved that I really didn't think that was a safe thing to do since she seemed to be in a rather precarious position to be driving. He answered me: "Shucks, that's nothing. A while back I saw a lady driving holding a dog with one arm, a baby in the other, using a cell phone and driving, too." That is a bit much, don't you think?

Many of you who are on the Internet have received some of these cute little sayings. That same friend I spoke of earlier sent these to me: "Only in America do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counter." And another, "Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage."

Right this minute I have junk in the garage that we have to put in the attic. I hate to climb the stairs to the attic so the stuff just stays there . and stays there. One of these days I'll ask one of the children or grandchildren to help me. I'm not in that big a hurry because we have only one car and it fits in the garage along with the junk. Actually, it's not really junk, it's stuff that needs storing until next Christmas season.

There were several things I found especially cute in one of those emails my friend copied for me. One was: "Why is abbreviated such a long word? "

Others include: "Why is it that doctors call what they do ëpractice'?" "Why does the sun brighten our hair but darkens our skin?" "Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?" "Why is the man who invests your money called a broker? " "Why is the time of day when traffic moves slowest called the ërush hour'?" "Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?"

My favorites are "If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?" and "If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?"

I might have a few answers for those, but I still don't know who "they" are.